The European Commission’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) came into force on 18 July 2024, boosting prospects for a more circular economy in the EU.
ESPR is part of a wider package of measures supporting the 2020 Circular Economy Action Plan, a provide a regulatory framework to reduce the environmental and pollution impacts of product manufacture – from clothing and textiles to TVs and tech.
These will contribute to helping the EU reach its environmental and climate goals, doubling its circularity rate of material use, and to achieving its energy efficiency targets by 2030.
By significantly improving the circularity, energy performance and other environmental sustainability aspects of products, the ESPR aims to better protect the planet, foster more sustainable business models and strengthen overall competitiveness and resilience of the EU economy.
The ESPR replaces the current Ecodesign Directive 2009/125/EC and enables the setting of performance and information conditions, or ‘ecodesign requirements’, for almost all categories of physical goods. The requirements include:
- Improving product durability, reusability, upgradability and reparability
- Making products more energy and resource-efficient
- Addressing the presence of substances that inhibit circularity
- Increasing recycled content
- Making products easier to remanufacture and recycle
- Setting rules on carbon and environmental footprints
- Improving the availability of information on product sustainability
Concrete product rules will be decided over time, on a product-by-product basis, or horizontally, on the basis of groups of products with similar characteristics. The process will begin with a prioritization exercise, followed by the publication of a working plan setting out the products and measures to be addressed under the ESPR over a specific period of time.
Development of product rules will then start, via an Ecodesign Forum, based on inclusive planning, detailed impact assessments and regular stakeholder consultation.
Main image: Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) visualisation. European Commission
